2012 almond crop a record $4.8 billion

Published:November 1, 2013 3:35PM

California almond growers produced a record crop in 2012, according to a report from the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

SACRAMENTO — Almond growers in California set a production value record last year at $4.82 billion, up significantly from the 2011 total production value of $4.01 billion, according to a government report.

The 2012 average return to almond growers was $2.58 a pound, an increase from the December preliminary estimate of $2.20 per pound, reported the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service office.

The price was up 30 percent from the 2011 final almond price of $1.99 per pound, according to the agency’s annual price survey of California almond handlers. Surveys were mailed in September and collected last month.

California growers harvested a 2 billion pound almond crop last year, as a warm and dry February created favorable bloom conditions. Spring frost and hailstorms affected some orchards in the San Joaquin Valley in 2012, but weather in the Sacramento Valley was nearly ideal for crop development.